Mirosława Danuta Wałęsa (; ; born 25 February 1949) is the wife of former President of Poland Lech Wałęsa. In 1983 she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on behalf of her husband, who feared, at a time of great political upheaval in the country, that the Polish government might not allow him to return if he travelled to Oslo himself. Lech and Danuta have been married since 8 November 1969 and have eight children.
Danuta grew up the second of nine children She was more resolutely anti-Communist than her husband. During her husband's frequent interrogations by the SB in the 1980s, she was known to openly taunt officers who came to pick him up.
Released in 2011, Danuta Wałęsa's autobiography Marzenia i tajemnice ("Dreams and Secrets", coauthored with Piotr Adamowicz) has sold over 400,000 copies.
In 2022, she was awarded the title of an Honorary Citizen of Gdańsk.
References
Further reading
- Fundacja "Sprawni inaczej" (Foundation Differently Able) [https://web.archive.org/web/20080221064935/http://www.fsi.gda.pl/info1.php?id=historia]
- Dziennik [http://dziennik.pl/polityka/article88152/Danuta_Walesa_Nie_wstapie_do_klubu_Pierwszych_Dam.html]